Putin in uniform, U.S. observers, and Z-bloggers’ reactions Key takeaways from Russia and Belarus’s Zapad-2025 war games
From September 12–15, Russian and Belarusian forces conducted joint military exercises under the banner of Zapad-2025. The drills marked the first in the Zapad series since the fall of 2021, when Moscow used the exercises to begin massing troops along its western border — setting the stage for its invasion of Ukraine the following February. Officials from both countries said the exercises would simulate enemy attacks and responses to repel them. According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, the drills incorporated lessons from the war in Ukraine, focusing on hybrid strikes, mobile artillery tactics, and anti-drone warfare. “Particular emphasis was placed on planning the use of non-strategic nuclear deterrence forces,” the paper reported, noting that commanders described this element as “strictly defensive and pre-planned.” Meduza shares the most notable takeaways from the first Zapad exercises since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
A surprise appearance by U.S. observers
The most unexpected development during the exercises was the presence of American military observers. Invited by Belarus, which has been seeking warmer ties with the United States this year, the two U.S. representatives were reportedly given “the best places” on the viewing platform, according to The New York Times.
Their attendance was first reported by the Belarusian Defense Ministry, which framed their presence as a surprise, writing in a statement: “Who would have thought [this would be] how the morning of another day of the Zapad-2025 exercise would begin?” The U.S. later confirmed that the observers had been there, writing on Tuesday that Washington “accepted the invitation in light of recent productive bilateral engagements between our countries.”
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Tactical nuclear planning and the Oreshnik missile
The exercises also reportedly included planning for the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons and featured drills involving the new Oreshnik intermediate-range missile, which Russia has pledged to deploy in Belarus.
On Tuesday, Belarusian General Pavel Muraveiko said that “all training objectives” had been successfully completed. He added that the war games offered “a lot of food for thought” about the nature of modern warfare.
Putin appears in uniform
President Vladimir Putin visited one of the Zapad-2025 training sites in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, where he appeared in military uniform. The Institute for the Study of War noted that this was the second time Putin has been seen in uniform during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — the first was in March 2025, during a visit to Russia’s Kursk region after Russian forces claimed to have pushed Ukrainian troops from the area.
The institute said Putin likely attended the exercises in uniform to signal Russian-Belarusian military strength “against the backdrop of recent Kremlin kinetic and rhetorical escalation against NATO states.” He has not visited the front lines in Ukraine, only occupied territories relatively far from active combat.
Timing and NATO’s reaction
Although Zapad exercises are held every four years and are announced months in advance, this year’s drills added to already heightened tensions in Eastern Europe. Two days before the exercises began, around 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine, prompting NATO to scramble fighter jets, which shot down several of them.
In the days that followed, Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania closed airspace along their eastern borders, and NATO launched Eastern Sentry, a new operation to strengthen its forces in Poland. Poland also closed its land border with Belarus indefinitely.
On Saturday, midway through the exercises, Romania became the second NATO country in four days to report a Russian drone breaching its airspace.
The view from Z-world
Some Russian pro-war bloggers were critical of aspects of the exercises. In a round-up of reactions, the Telegram channel Mozhem Obyasnit (“We Can Explain”) pointed to the lack of any footage of the Oreshnik missile. It also questioned claims that the drills were based on Ukraine war experience, arguing that they were a “circus show” relying on “long-obsolete tactics and [were] ill-suited to modern war.”
Among other examples, the channel quoted the pro-war account Two Majors, which mocked Russia’s use of free-falling bombs from low and medium altitudes, saying such tactics “would be relevant today only if you were attacking Indians and fighting cowboys.”